Coherence Guidebook

CSDP Coherence Guidebook

We believe great schools create the conditions that ensure all students regularly engage in deeper learning, where all students have consistent access to grade-level work that is relevant, real world, and interactive, which fosters not only mastery but also identity-development and creativity.

Over the last several years, the Department has published and utilized several frameworks and resources that capture elements of great schools and levers to create conditions that improve student outcomes. The Coherence Guidebook pulls them together into one place to illustrate a systems-level path toward deeper learning.

Resource Links

Explore the Coherence Guidebook and companion Self-Assessment

• Coherence Guidebook

• Coherence Guidebook Self-Assessment

Appendix Resources

• Appendix Frameworks

• Appendix Effective Instructional Practice

• Appendix Prioritization Template

• Appendix Crafting a Common Instructional Vision

• Appendix ILT Framework

• Appendix Action Steps and Resources

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Disrupting Inequity: Having Brave Conversations About Bias - Bias Toolkit

Tool kit created by UnboundEd that educators can use facilitate a “brave conversation” about bias. Includes an overview of the 3-part conversation process, slide presentations with notes and resources, and activities you can use and adapt to support part of the conversation.

• Session 1: Introducing Bias (90-120 mins)

• Session 2: Historical Perspective about Race in America (90-120 mins)

• Session 3: How Does Bias Manifest in School (90-120 mins)

Resource

Bias Toolkit

Source

UnboundEd

Building Systems to Support the Whole Child Amid COVID-19

DESE offered a webinar, hosted by the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy and the Center for Optimized Student Support at Boston College, focused on systems to remotely identify and organize a response to students’ strengths and needs in this moment of crisis. In particular, the webinar focused on successfully closing out the academic year while simultaneously beginning to plan for supporting students through the summer and into the fall. District and school presenters included Somerville Public Schools and the Parker Elementary School in New Bedford.

Resources

Presentation Slides

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, Center for Optimized Student Support at Boston College

2020 MTSS Planning Institute Materials

Welcome to the February 2020 MTSS Planning Institute. This opportunity was developed in response to educator feedback from September’s MTSS Leadership Institute, requesting additional guidance, professional development, tools, resources, and facilitated planning time to help them design, implement, and lead cohesive tiered systems of support.

Resource Links

Access all conference materials.

Breakout Sessions Day 1: MTSS Overview Session

• Getting Started with MTSS

• Moving Beyond MTSS Basics

• Moving from MTSS Theory to Practice

Breakout Sessions Day 1: MTSS Implementation Modules

• Elementary Scheduling

• Secondary Scheduling

• Resource Allocation

• Improving Professional Learning and Coaching

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: ELA

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: Math

• Selecting High Quality Curricular and Intervention Materials: SEL

• Staffing

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Student Opportunity Act Breakouts

• Researched-based early literacy programs and professional development

• Early college programs serving all students

• Community partnerships for in-school enrichment and wraparound services

• Acceleration Academies to support skill development and accelerate advanced learners

• Dropout prevention and recovery programs

• Parent-teacher home visiting programs

• Inclusion/co-teaching for students with disabilities and English learners

• Recruitment and retention strategies to diversity the educator and administrator workforce

• Increased staff and services to support holistic student needs

• OPTIC (Online Platform for Teaching and Informed Calibration): Calibration Training to Support Effective Instruction & High Quality Feedback Using a Dynamic Professional Learning Platform

Breakout Sessions Day 2: Team Planning Time

• MTSS Self-Assessment

• Calibrating with your Team

• Pause and Reflect on Existing Plans Protocol

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2019 MTSS Leadership Institute Materials

Welcome to the September 26 & 27th MTSS Leadership Institute. This professional development opportunity focused on giving district teams the opportunity to learn about the new MTSS blueprint and discuss how to lead within an MTSS framework. Please see below for breakout session material links.

Resource Links

Access all breakout sessions.

Access the keynote speaker and breakout sessions.

Access the MTSS Blueprint.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Leading with Access & Equity 2018 Conference Materials

Welcome to the November 1, 2018 Leading with Access & Equity Conference! This annual professional development opportunity focuses on systems and strategies to meet students’ holistic needs and ensure that every child has equitable access to a world-class education. The event represents a collaboration across multiple offices and initiatives at DESE and focuses on topics including, but not limited to: creating a pipeline of diverse educators, developing multi-tiered systems of support, equitable access to high quality curriculum, bilingual education, ensuring racial and cultural equity, effectively engaging families, student mobility, approaches to addressing students’ mental health needs, integrating social emotional and academic learning, and more. Please see below for breakout session material links.

Resource Links

Access all breakout session materials.

Access the 2019 Leading with Access & Equity Conference materials.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Leading with Access & Equity 2019 Conference Materials

Welcome to the October 24, 2019 Leading with Access & Equity Conference! Please see below for breakout session material links.

View the incredible performance from the Springfield High School of Science and Technology (SciTech) Band!

Resource Links

Breakout Session Materials:

• Session A2:  Building a Prenatal through Post-Secondary Family Engagement Framework:  An Opportunity for Communities to Strengthen and Align Family Engagement Practices

• Session B2:  Drafting and Implementing a Revised District Code of Conduct

• Session C2:  Reducing Anxiety and Increasing Engagement in the Classroom

• Session D2:  Six Components of Integrating Social-Emotional Learning into Daily Classroom Practice

• Session E2:  Using Psychosocial and Behavioral Data to Support Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

• Session A1: A Diagnostic Approach in an Integrated Public Preschool: A Framework for Assessing English Learners

• Session B1: Advancing Racial Equity in the Commonwealth

• Session C1:  Building a Multi-Tiered System of Support 

• Session D1:  Building a Prenatal through Post-Secondary Family Engagement Framework:  An Opportunity for  Communities to Strengthen and Align Family Engagement Practices -  One hour version

• Session E1:  Building an Alternative School 

• Session F1:  College and Career Advising and My Career and Academic Plan:  A Whole School Plan for Student Success 

• Session G1:  Culturally Responsive Teams:  4 Strategies to Strengthen Family-School Partnerships on 504 and Special Education Teams 

• Session H1: Deeper Dive into Supporting Students in Foster Care or Experiencing Homelessness

• Session I1:  Educational Equality in Opportunities and Outcomes for ELs:  Bilingual Education Programs 

• Session J1:  Embedding Social and Emotional Learning in Secondary Classrooms 

• Session K1:  Equity and Literacy: Reaching the Brilliant and the Bored - Centering the Literacy Lives of Young People of Color in Our Classrooms

• Session L1:  Hiring for Equity: Disrupting Bias in the Interview and Selection Process 

• Session M1: Impact of Today’s Poverty, Trauma, and Stress on Learning

• Session N1:  Leveraging Prep Partnerships to Diversity the Workforce 

• Session O1:  Promoting Culturally Responsive Education

• Session P1:  School and Youth-Serving Agencies Together to Create Flexible Solutions for "Potentially" Suspended Students 

• Session Q1:  Strengthening and Diversifying Existing Teacher Recruitment and Retention Programs

• Session R1:  Supporting Students in Foster Care or Experiencing Homelessness 101

• Session S1:  Supporting Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students

• Session T1:  The CURATE (CUrriculum RAtings by TEachers) Project:  Broadening Access to High-Quality Curriculum in Massachusetts

• Session U1: The Power of Play in New Bedford Public Schools

• Session V1:  Thinking About Student and Teacher Assignment Strategically

• Session W1:  Tier II Mental Health Services:  Implementing a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Group Programs 

• Session X1:  What Does Equitable Access in Math and Science Classrooms Look Like? 

• Session Y1:  Where Equity and SEL Collide:  Adult Self-Care 

Access all breakout sessions.

Access general conference materials.

Access 2018 convening materials.

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MTSS Introduction Videos and Facilitation Guide

This resource contains seven videos that introduce the viewer to the key drivers, foundational frameworks, and focus of the MTSS Blueprint. The videos are embedded in the MTSS Mobilization Guide (see pages 10-17 for Video Facilitation Guide) to support learning and team collaboration.

Resource Links

MTSS Videos

• Introduction to the MTSS Visual

• Introduction to Implementation Science

• Unpacking the Leadership Drivers

• Unpacking the Competency Drivers

• Unpacking the Implementation Drivers

• Universal Design for Learning & Equitable Access

• Tiers are Not Locations

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Tiered Resource Map

This resource mapping template will help you inventory the Curriculum & Instruction/ Interventions, Assessments, and Data-Based Decision practices you are currently using (or have the goal of using) at each tier. Please note that this template should not be used in place of the MTSS Self-Assessment, which helps teams unpack where they have strengths and needs relative to the systems needed to effectively implement MTSS. Map away!

Resource Link

MTSS Tiered Resource Map (word document)

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Diagnostic

The MTSS Diagnostic assessment is intended to be used to determine current understanding of the research and theory behind the design and delivery of effective multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). This assessment can be used by individuals or teams to determine prior knowledge, uncover variability, and introduce learners to the MTSS Blueprint.

Resource Link

MTSS Diagnostic

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Self-Assessment

The MTSS Self-Assessment is designed to help district teams assess the systems and structures that they have (or do not have) in place to foster an effective multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The results of the self-assessment will help illuminate current gaps and strengths and can be used for prioritization and planning purposes. This tool was designed to give a district-level perspective and should be used by a team consisting of a range of stakeholders (i.e., representation from different departments, roles, etc.). The self-assessment is aligned to the 2018 MTSS Blueprint redesign.

Resource Link

MTSS Self-Assessment

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency.

MTSS Mobilization Guide

All students are capable of success. A Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) is a framework for how school districts can build the necessary systems to ensure that each and every student receives a high quality educational experience. In order to support implementation of the MTSS Blueprint, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education welcomes educators and leaders to use MTSS Mobilization Guide to help understand the most current research on MTSS and how to get started building a system that will address the needs of all students.

Resource Links

MTSS Mobilization Guide

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

MTSS Blueprint

All students are capable of success. A Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) is a framework for how school districts can build the necessary systems to ensure that each and every student receives a high quality educational experience. It is designed to support schools with proactively identifying and addressing the strengths and needs of all students by optimizing data-driven decision-making, progress monitoring, and the use of evidence-based supports and strategies with increasing intensity to sustain student growth. In 2018, Massachusetts updated its MTSS Blueprint to reflect the most current research and enhance the user experience. The current blueprint more explicitly focuses on equitable access and universal design for learning (UDL) and fully integrates social emotional, behavioral, and academic learning.

Resource Links

MTSS Blueprint

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Novak Educational Consulting and Rodriguez Educational Consulting Agency

Student Learning Experience Report→

An EDWIN report for school and district leaders that helps them understand equity gaps in students’ learning experiences with effective educators, the report shows how often students had assignments with different types of teachers, over the past one to five years.

Resource Links

Student Learning Experience Report

Source

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education